WhatsApp has today hit One billion users

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[/blockquote]Cementing itself as the number one used messaging platform, WhatsApp has today hit One billion users. In his Message to the public Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg said “In Congrats to Jan, Brian and everyone who helped reach this milestone!” This milestone is a target that Facebook has managed to achieve since it bought WhatsApp in 2014, for $16 billion and at that time it had only 450 million monthly users.  At the time of acquiring WhatsApp, Mark Zuckerburg said that WhatsApp is on a path to connect 1 billion people and today his dream has come true. “The services that reach that milestone are all incredibly valuable. WhatsApp will complement our existing chat and messaging services to provide new tools for our community.”” Mark added.

WhatsApp was bought for $16 billion in cash and stock. Just like what Facebook did when they bought Instagram, they have run WhatsApp independently since they acquired it — separate from Facebook Messenger — and the aim was to “accelerates Facebook’s ability to bring connectivity and utility to the world.” As if $16 billion is not enough, Facebook also threw in an extra $3 billion in restricted stock units that went to WhatsApp’s employees; and those would vest over a period of four years after the acquisition is completed.

“Next, we’re going to work to connect more people around the world”

In a Facebook Post Mark Zuckerburg said that, “WhatsApp’s community has more than doubled since joining Facebook. We’ve added the ability for you to call loved ones far away. We’ve dropped the subscription fee and made WhatsApp completely free. Next, we’re going to work to connect more people around the world and make it easier to communicate with businesses. There are only a few services that connect more than a billion people. This milestone is an important step towards connecting the entire world. “